


Recalibrating

by straponselina



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: (now i'm just quoting veep), F/F, M/M, Read Author's Notes, Season 5 Spoilers, i've got it tattooed on my dick with room to spare!, soft dinfoyle + hallton smut, that shit is my credo!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 03:50:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14685849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/straponselina/pseuds/straponselina
Summary: Dinesh becomes jealous as Gilfoyle and Monica become closer.  Carla intervenes on his behalf and reaps some unexpected rewards.





	1. Dinesh & Gilfoyle

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is basically how I'm processing the state of Monica and Gilfoyle's relationship at the end of the season 5 finale. Chapter one focuses on dinfoyle, chapter two focuses on hallton (or monicarla? idk which is better). Second chapter will be mature. Please comment!

Dinesh sat down at his computer in the middle of the Pied Piper bullpen as the company celebrated around him.  He cheerfully watched as Holden screamed from on top of Danny’s desk. Priyanka could wait to get her keys back.  Right now he just wanted to sit and revel in Pied Piper’s victory— in his victory. Pride swelled in his chest as he thought about how he was able to get K-Hole games back on their network just in time to block the 51% attack.  Today was a good day.

 

“Hey, Dinesh, you’re back!”  He looked up as Monica dragged her wheely chair next to him, carrying a green mug.  “I want to be the first to say thank you. I think it’s safe to say you saved Pied Piper’s collective ass today!”

 

The feeling in his chest grew and Dinesh beamed at her.  “Well, y’know, it was nothing.” He scrunched his nose as he caught a whiff of something antiseptic.  He peered into Monica’s mug. “Where did you get the booze?”

 

Monica smiled a little too widely; it was clear she was already a little tipsy.  “Oh, Gilfoyle decided to share his secret stash of Pappy Van Winkle with me! Do you want a sip?”

 

Dinesh ignored the outstretched mug, scratching the back of his head.  The smile on his face was gradually dimming. “Wow, that’s pretty big.”

 

“Yeah!”  Monica leaned in as if she were about to tell him a secret.  “And do you want to hear something weird? Gilfoyle just told me that he likes me.”

 

By now, the smile had completely vanished from Dinesh’s face.  In that moment, all he could think about was his own expression.  It took all his willpower to keep it blank.

 

“I mean, not in _that_ way.  He was clear about that.”  Monica laughed before taking another sip from her mug.  “But even a declaration of platonic affection just seems so bizarre coming from him.  I’ve never seen him vulnerable like that, you know?”

 

“Yeah.  Yeah, I know.”  Dinesh’s response was curt.  He turned back to his computer, pointedly not making eye contact with Monica.  “Listen, Monica, I actually have a lot of work to catch up on, so . . . “

 

“Alright, I hear you loud and clear.”  Monica stood up and patted him on the shoulder before walking back towards the kitchen.  “See you later, MVP!”

 

Dinesh kept his eyes glued on the JFrame on his monitor, but his fingers lay motionless on the keyboard.  After a minute, he allowed his gaze to drift to the kitchen, just in time to see Gilfoyle pour more Pappy Van Winkle into Monica’s mug.

 

* * *

 

Ever since Dinesh returned his Tesla, he had started riding with Gilfoyle in his blue shitbox.  Their commutes happened without incident. If Dinesh didn’t think about it too much, he’d say riding in Gilfoyle’s car was normal.  He might even call it peaceful.

 

But if Dinesh thought hard, it was far from normal.  At least, it wasn’t their normal. As they drove between work and home and back again, there was a coolness in the air that Dinesh hadn’t felt in years.  It reminded him of the first few months that he had lived in the incubator, before Gilfoyle had even bothered to learn his name. Gilfoyle would respond when Dinesh talked to him, but he would never start conversations.  It was up to Dinesh to push the silence from the car.

 

Today, they drove home in silence.  Dinesh stared out the window until they reached the incubator.  When they got there , he climbed out of the car and shut the door behind him too firmly.  He winced and turned around. Gilfoyle wasn’t getting out.

 

“Are you coming or what?”

 

“No.  I’m going out.”

 

Against his better judgment, Dinesh asked, “Where are you going?”

 

Gilfoyle simple looked at him with his blank, stone face.  Dinesh hated it when he did that. He felt naked under his stare, and it made him angry.  Dinesh opened his mouth to curse at him, but Gilfoyle quickly interrupted him.

 

“Monica wants to try the new bar on Ramona.  I’m gonna meet her there.”

 

“Oh.  Okay.”  Dinesh stood up and awkwardly patted the hood of the car.  “I’ll see you later, then.”

 

Dinesh stood there as he waited for Gilfoyle to say something.  Gilfoyle stared. Finally, Dinesh gave him a stiff wave and turned back to the house.  As he walked away, he felt his throat tightened. He tried to gulp, but couldn’t. He kept his eyes locked on the house, refusing to look behind him again.

 

It wasn’t until Dinesh had closed the front door behind him that he heard Gilfoyle start his engine and pull out of the driveway.

 

* * *

 

There was no one else home, but Dinesh shut his door anyways.  He moved slowly as he climbed onto his bed and rolled onto his side, facing the wall.  He pulled his pillow tightly to his chest and buried his face in it.

 

He didn’t know when things with Gilfoyle had changed.  Maybe it was when they had moved into their new offices.  Maybe it was when Jian-Yang had kicked them out of the incubator.  Maybe it was when he had moved in with Jeff—.

 

Dinesh’s shoulders tensed as the thought of Jeff came to mind.  That was it. Shame pooled deep in his gut as he remember how desperate and excited he had been to make a new friend.

 

_Just two days after he had moved in with Jeff, Gilfoyle had walked up to his desk at the end of work._

_“Hey, Dinesh, want to play Fortnite?”_

_Dinesh's grin had been ludicrously wide when he replied.  “Sorry, man, Jeff and I are going to Dave & Buster’s!” Dinesh had slapped Jeff on the back and Jeff had grimaced._

 

That’s when things started to change.  After that day, Gilfoyle had gradually started to pull away.  It wasn’t until Jeff's betrayal was revealed that Dinesh had even noticed anything.  

 

Now, on top of his shitty bed in his cold room in an empty house, Dinesh wanted to vomit.  

 

Then, his phone rang.  He startled at the sound and looked at the screen.  It was Carla, trying to FaceTime him. He stayed curled on his side as he answered the call.

 

“Hey, Java boy, I need your help with this bug.  What do I do when— wait. What the fuck, man, are you okay?”

 

It wasn’t until then that Dinesh even noticed that he had been crying.  His eyes stung as he wiped them with the back of his eyes.

 

“It’s nothing.  I’m fine. What’s your bug?”

 

Carla’s voice was firm but gentle.  “No, Dinesh. Tell me what’s wrong.”

 

Dinesh took a deep, ragged breath and looked past his phone to the blank wall.  “It’s Gilfoyle.”

 

When he looked back at his phone, anger flashed across Carla’s face.  “What the fuck did he do?”

 

“No, he didn’t do anything . . . It’s my fault.  I pushed him away and now it’s like we’re not even friends anymore.”  Dinesh tried to laugh bitterly, but it came out sounding more like a choked sob.  “I mean, we weren’t even friends in the first place! I don’t know what we were, but now it’s all gone.”  Dinesh squeezed his burning eyes shut before continuing. “I think I really fucked everything up this time.”

 

When Dinesh opened his eyes again, Carla’s expression was uncharacteristically soft.  “Where is he?”

 

“He’s at some bar . . . with his new best friend Monica.”

 

“Which bar?”

 

“I don’t know.  I think he said it was a new one on Ramona.”

 

On the tiny screen, Dinesh watched Carla pull the jacket off the back of her chair and tug it on.  “Listen, man, everything’s gonna be okay. Okay? Just . . . get some sleep.”

 

Before Carla hung up, she smiled at him one last time.  “You’re a good friend, Dinesh. Really.”

 

* * *

 

Dinesh awoke when he heard keys in the front door.  He unconsciously held his breath, half-expecting Gilfoyle to walk straight to his bedroom and knock on the door.  But he didn’t.

 

After what felt like an eternity, Dinesh allowed his eyes to flutter shut and his body to drift back to sleep.

 

He was awakened again by the sound of his door opening.  He turned to see Gilfoyle’s usually looming but now curiously small form backlit by the light from the hallway.  Dinesh didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but by the fresh smell of soap in the air he could tell that Gilfoyle had just stepped out of the shower.  Without saying a word, Dinesh rolled over to face the wall again.

 

The bed shifted as Gilfoyle sat down on the edge of the mattress.  Dinesh inched closer the the wall.

 

“Carla was at the bar.”

 

Gilfoyle was obviously waiting for Dinesh to reply, but Dinesh kept his lips pressed firmly together.  Finally, Gilfoyle continued.

 

“She said you were upset.”  GIlfoyle paused again. “Can I lie down?”

 

Dinesh didn’t answer.

 

“Dinesh.”

 

“I don’t care.”

 

Dinesh felt the mattress shift again as Gilfoyle stretched out next to him.  They were separated by several inches, but Dinesh could feel the heat emanating from the body next to him.

 

Gilfoyle took a deep breath before speaking again.

 

“You hurt me, Dinesh.  Fuck, no. That’s not what I meant.  I was hurt. Not by you, but by— I don’t know— the fucking circumstances.  You had every right to hang out with Jeff, but . . . Fuck.”

 

Slowly, Dinesh looked over his shoulder to peer at Gilfoyle through the darkness.  “What?”

 

Gilfoyle was staring at the ceiling.  “I missed you.”

 

“Oh.”

 

They lay there silently for a few moments.  Dinesh listened to his own heartbeat pounding in his ears until Gilfoyle spoke again.  

 

“Do you wanna watch a movie?”

 

“Okay.”

 

Gilfoyle stood up and walked out of the room.  Dinesh rolled onto his back; his bed suddenly felt much bigger.  Gilfoyle returned with his laptop and lay back down on the bed. This time, their shoulders pressed together.  Dinesh didn’t move away.

 

Gilfoyle opened his laptop and hit the spacebar.  As the opening credits of Planets of the Apes rolled across the screen, Gilfoyle hesitantly stretched his arm over Dinesh’s shoulders.  Dinesh’s whole body tensed, but then he looked up to see the terrified look on Gilfoyle’s face. Etched into his features, the expression seemed completely alien.  Finally, Dinesh relaxed into his touch and settled into to watch Charlton Heston’s misanthropic rant.

 

* * *

 

“Get your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”

 

Half-way through the movie, Gilfoyle suddenly lurched forward to pause it.  He turned to face Dinesh, and Dinesh realised that this was the first time they had made eye contact since Gilfoyle came home.  

 

“I—”  Gilfoyle stopped abruptly.  Dinesh stared as Gilfoyle pressed his tongue into the back of his front teached, poised to pronounce an “l”.  He sighed and started over. “I like you, Dinesh. I care about you. And . . . I’m sorry if I haven’t made that clear.  I should have said it a lot sooner. You deserved that.”

 

Dinesh looked back at the computer screen.  A small part of him wanted to say nothing and just unpause the movie.  They could pretend that none of this had ever happened and simply slip back into their familiar existence of playful antagonism.  

 

But Dinesh knew that was impossible.  So instead, he leaned back and rested his head on Gilfoyle’s chest.  Softly, he said, “I like you, too.”

 

Dinesh couldn’t see Gilfoyle face as they sat in silence, but he was comfortable.  After what could have been a minute or an hour, Gilfoyle reached out to unpause the movie, but Dinesh didn’t pay attention.  With his ear over Gilfoyle’s heart, Dinesh eventually drifted off to sleep. It was possible that he dreamed it, but Dinesh could swear that he felt Gilfoyle press a gentle kiss to the top of his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I am convinced that Planet of the Apes would be Gilfoyle's favorite movie. Here's why:
> 
> 1) The general message fits in with his belief system.  
> 2) I like to think that most Martin Starr characters are the same person, especially Gilfoyle, Bill Haverchuck from Freaks and Geeks, and Roman from Party Down, (I could talk all day about how this evolution happened, but I won't). Roman is only into HARD sci-fi, and he would definitely be super into Planet of the Apes, so there you go!


	2. Monica & Carla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a coda to the previous chapter from Carla's point of view, as well as some straight Monica/Carla smut. This chapter was inspired by Amanda Crews arms!

When Carla hung up the phone she was fuming.  This wasn’t the first time she’d seen Dinesh teary-eyed over Gilfoyle.  She’d had gotten drunk with him enough times to see him burst out crying over something as innocuous as Gilfoyle beating him at a stupid indie first-person-shooter or as trivial as seeing Gilfoyle shirtless when he wasn’t expecting it.  She was his go-to when he wanted to complain about anything remotely in the realm of Satanic wookies, and it usually ended in Carla reminding him that he could be just as much of an asshole as Gilfoyle. But this time it was different. This was the first time she had seen Dinesh cry over Gilfoyle while sober, so this time she had to kick Gilfoyle’s ass.

 

_“Which bar?”_

 

_“I don’t know.  I think he said it was a new one on Ramona.”_

 

A quick Google search told her that Gilfoyle was at place called The After Party that described itself as “a chic watering hole that caters to the trendsetters of Palo Alto.”  Carla groaned aloud. Of course Monica had wanted to go to that corporate hipster shithole. All VC’s were the same.

 

* * *

 

In her Uber, Carla bounced her leg aggressively as she thought the situation over.  She had always suspected that Dinesh felt this strongly about Gilfoyle, of course, but she knew _exactly_ how Gilfoyle felt about Dinesh.  That’s what made this whole thing so infuriating.

 

Despite lauding himself as paragon of honest living and unabashed hedonism, Gilfoyle hadn’t come right out and told Carla about his feelings.  No, she had to chip away at his bullshit. She was first tipped off by Tara. They had hooked up the last time she had come to Palo Alto to visit Gilfoyle and they had been sexting buddies ever since.  Between sending surprisingly arousing photos of Satanic rituals, Tara enjoyed talking shit about her boyfriend with Carla. When she first mentioned Gilfoyle’s crush on Dinesh, Carla had immediately driven to the incubator.

 

_I think I love him, Carla._

 

That was just two months before Pied Piper had moved into their new offices, so Carla was rightly furious at the revelation that Gilfoyle had started distancing himself from Dinesh.   _Tomorrow_ , she thought, _I’ll started looking for friends that aren’t idiots_.  She sighed loudly and scowled at the Uber driver when he gave her a questioning look.

 

* * *

 

To Carla’s surprise, The After Party was a lot cooler than she was expecting.  The lighting was dim, the music sounded like a chillwave bastardization of The Talking Heads, and the girl behind the bar was covered in tattoos that didn’t appear to be ironic.

 

Gilfoyle and Monica were sitting at the bar.  Monica was laughing and Gilfoyle was almost smiling.   _Oh my god, they really are friends_ , Carla thought.

 

As she marched towards them, she noted how good Gilfoyle’s hair looked.  When she wasn’t so angry with him, she would have to ask him what conditioner he was using.

 

“There you are, asshole!”

 

Monica swung her head around in surprise, but Gilfoyle just sighed and took out his phone.  Monica looked back at him. “What are you doing?”

“Clearly Carla here decided to hack my phone again.”

 

“No, I didn’t.  But you probably should change your password from ‘kundalini kush.’ Dinesh told you would be here.  I just got off the phone with him.” Even sitting on his barstool, Gilfoyle was still taller than her, but Carla put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out to try to look bigger.  “He was crying.”

 

Gilfoyle sat up a little straighter.  “What? Why?”

 

“Because of you, dumbass!”

 

“I’m gonna give you guys some space,” Monica grabbed her drink and walked away.

 

Carla sat in her vacant seat and turned to glare at Gilfoyle.  “I FaceTimed Dinesh and when he answered he looked like someone squeezed a lemon in eyes.  He said that you’ve stopped hanging out with him and that you’ve replaced him with Monica. He thinks it’s all his fault.  He thinks he’s a bad friend.”

 

“Yeah, well, maybe he is.”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Gilfoyle.”

 

Gilfoyle crossed his arms defensively.  “I wasn’t the one who stopped hanging out with him.  When he moved in with that engineer that turned out to be one of Gavin Belson’s bitchboys, he just . . . stopped spending time with me.  Do you know how humiliating it is to sit in your apartment alone on a Friday night, jealous over a guy that’s being forced to play skee-ball at a Dave & Buster’s?  So yeah, I started hanging out with Monica. And I’m not gonna stop. She’s actually pretty fucking cool.”

 

“Does he know how you feel?”

 

Gilfoyle didn’t reply.  He just turned back to the bar and chugged the rest of his beer.

 

Carla dragged her hand over her face.  It felt like a more productive use of her hand than punching him.  “Jesus fucking Christ, dude, Cunty was totally right about you. You are just a repressed asshole that keeps everyone at arm’s length because you’re secretly terrified of emotional intimacy.”  She ignored Gilfoyle’s sidelong glare. “Listen, I’m not telling you to stop hanging out with Monica. I’m not even telling you to tell Dinesh how you really feel! Just, like, let him know that you fucking care about him.  He deserves at least that.”

 

Gilfoyle didn’t look her.  Instead, his eyes were glued to his beer bottle where he was picking away at the label.  “You’re right.”

 

“Fuck yeah, I’m right.”

 

GIlfoyle didn’t move.

 

Carla rolled her eyes.  “Dude! Go home and talk to him.  Right now!”

 

Gilfoyle nodded and pushed himself off of his barstool.  Before he left, he paused and turned to face Carla. His expression was uncharacteristically sincere.  “Thanks, man.”

 

“Anytime, asshole.”

 

With that, Gilfoyle left.  When the door to the bar closed, Monica appeared in Gilfoyle’s empty seat.  “What was that about?”

 

“I finally convinced GIlfoyle to tell Dinesh that he cares about him.”

 

Monica laughed.  It was a warm and musical laugh.  “Wow, you’re a miracle worker!”

 

For the first time since she had arrived at the bar, Carla took a moment to actually notice Monica.  She was dressed down but still incredibly well put-together, wearing a dark blazer over a tight shirt and expensive-looking jeans.  Her hair fell elegantly over her shoulders, looking almost as soft as Gilfoyle’s. _Yeah_ , she thought, _I am a miracle worker!  I deserve a reward._

 

“Well, since your date ditched you, wanna come back to my place?”

 

Monica raised an eyebrow and slowly looked her up and down before sipping the rest of her bourbon.  “Sure, why not.”

 

* * *

 

Monica didn’t touch her until Carla shut her apartment door behind them.  When she did, though, Monica grabbed her by the jaw and pulled her into a rough kiss.  Carla was frozen in shock for a second, but quickly gathered her bearings and kissed back, eager not to be bested.  She grabbed Monica by the hips and guided her into the living room, only breaking the kiss to push her backwards onto the couch.  She stood there panting and just looking at Monica for a second before turning away and walking towards her record player. The first thing Carla did when she started making money in the Valley was trick out her sound system.  It was probably the best financial decision she had ever made; every girl she brought home loved it.

 

Carla lowered the needle onto a Velvet Underground album and walked back to the couch so she could lower herself onto Monica’s lap, straddling her hips.  She tangled her hands in Monica’s hair as Venus in Furs started playing and pulled her in for another kiss, this one a little gentler than the first. Monica hummed into her mouth and pulled back, just enough to say, “God, I love this song.”

 

“Oh, yeah?  If I had known you were this cool maybe I would have listened to O.J. when— holy shit.”  Carla stared, dumbfounded, as Monica shrugged off her jacket.

 

“What?”

 

“Your arms!”  Carla rubbed her hands over Monica’s shoulders.  He skin was flawless, her arms were beautifully toned, and Carla felt the sudden urge to be held.  

 

Monica giggled.  “Do you like them?  Do you want a ticket to the gun show?”  She grinned and flexed both her biceps.

 

 _God, that’s hot_.  “Just shut the fuck up.”  

 

Carla pressed their lips back together and Monica wrapped her surprisingly strong arms around waist.  She pulled Carla’s hips into her own and Carla threw her head back and moaned. Monica took the opportunity to latch onto her exposed throat.  She moved one arm under Carla’s ass and used the other to push off of the couch. When she was standing, Carla wrapped her legs around her waist.

 

“Where’s the bedroom?”

 

Carla smiled, a bit breathless.  “Right behind you.”

 

Monica walked them into the bedroom and dropped Carla on the bed.  She took a second to look at the state of utter disarray around her.

 

“Yeah, sorry it’s a little messy.”

 

Monica leaned down to pick up an old Letters to Cleo t-shirt from the ground.  “Wow. Are you a lesbian or something?”

 

Carla smirked as she pulled off her shirt and unhooked her bra.  “Surprised?”

 

Monica wasted no time in stripping.  Carla didn’t even have time to admire the sight before she climbed on top of her and took one of her nipples in her mouth.  Carla groaned and twisted the bedsheets in her hand. Monica’s mouth ambled slowly downwards, nipping and licking all across her pale stomach.  She spent an extra moment at her navel, taking the time to lap Carla’s belly button. She scraped her teeth along the expanse of exposed skin from her navel to the top of her denim shorts.  She sat up to quickly undo the button and zipper and yank the shorts down Carla’s legs, then lowered herself back down to suck on the inside of her thigh. Carla was sure she’d wake up to find bruises there in the morning.  

 

When Carla moved her hand down to rub her herself, Monica swatted in away and pinned the offending hand to the bed.

 

“Jesus, stop being a such a fucking tease!”

 

Carla heard a laugh from in between her legs, but Monica quickly complied.  She used two fingers to spread Carla’s labia and dragged a stripe with her tongue over her hole, nose pressing against her clit.  Carla let out a loud and obscene groan, not caring that her neighbors could probably hear her.

 

“Fuck, Monica, just like that!”

 

Carla used the hand that Monica wasn’t pinning to the mattress to grab her by the hair and push her face into her cunt.  Monica continued to mouth at her fervently as Carla started babbling above her.

 

“Oh god, just like that!  Fuck, you’re so good! Come on, baby, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me fuck fuck— ah!”

 

Her ramblings dissolved into a lewd moan as Monica slipped two fingers inside her.  She sucked on her clit a little longer before raising her head to look down at Carla, all the while curling and pumping her fingers.  Carla’s eyes were squeezed shut and her mouth hung open as she heaved deep, uneven breaths. She looked fucking beautiful.

 

Monica bent her head down so she could continue to lick between Carla’s folds.  She began to pump her fingers even faster.

 

“Fuck!  Baby, I’m gonna fall apart!  Keep going, keep going.”

 

Monica place an open-mouth kiss on her clit and started to suck.

 

“Oh my god, shit, I’m gonna come!  Fuck, Monica. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”

 

Carla arched her back and pressed her hips into Monica’s face as she came.  She panted as Monica continued to mouth at her through the aftershocks. With one last curl of her fingers, Monica pulled out of her.  Monica took her sweet time lapping up her cum before pressing a soft kiss into Carla’s bruised inner thigh.

 

“Jesus fucking Christ.  Seriously, if O.J. had told me you were such a champ at eating pussy, we would have been friends much sooner.”

 

Monica laughed and she crawled on top of her.  She raised her finger’s to Carla’s lips. “Are you always this talkative during sex?”

 

Carla narrowed her eyes as she sucked her own cum off Monica’s fingers.  “No, only when I bottom. Stick with me and I’ll show you just how cool and stoic I can be.”

 

Monica chuckled and leaned down to kiss her.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so tonally different from the other, but every time I start writing a dinfoyle fic I have to throw some hallton in there. I'm a lesbian and I'm sorry.


End file.
